Good Night, Tony
by megtries
Summary: Tony had once asked everyone what they wanted their last words to be. Never had he thought any of them would have to say them. Then again, only one of them counts. Warning: Major Character Death.
**So, I wrote this and cried and then thought "Hey, let's make other people cry too!" Good luck and thanks for reading!**

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Tony had once asked everyone what they wanted their last words to be. Clint had immediately replied "see you on the other side". Thor declared that he would say something honor full and interesting, so everyone would know he died gratefully. Steve went next, saying how it would be "thank you", because there was nothing else to be said when it came to the end. Bruce claimed it would be a roar, there wasn't a way for him to get hurt or die with ought the other guy coming out. Natasha said something in russian, none of them knowing what it meant, only that is held some meaning. Finally, Tony said that his would be goodnight, he already had enough chaos in his life and he was going to die peacefully in his sleep, goodnight being the last thing he said before resting.

So, everyone knew what their last words would be and knew what their teammates would be. These become key words, things they would say if they thought they weren't going to make it, in hopes that they could fulfill one final wish before death came.

The first one who said these words was Thor. It had been a great battle, lasting longer than most, but success was inevitable. The only problem was the giant monster ripping apart the city. Tony had compared the beast to Godzilla, the way it was a scaly mutant that was rampaging through new York. There was no way to stop it. Hulk was unconscious somewhere near the city after being thrown. Nothing in Clint, Tony, Natasha, or Steve's arsenal could have caused damage. In the end, the thing that brought it down was eating a thunder god. As lightning burst through the creature, the rest of the team could only hope that the cause of it was still alive. As the monster exploded and Thor was hurled to the ground, the team all flew, ran, or limped over to his shuddering body.

"Thor!" Tony yelled, checking the man's vitals. He smiled at them tiredly and tearfully, the blood from the hole in his stomach mixing with the puddles caused by the rainstorm that had emerged.

"I….I am a changed man. The world….has changed….with me…..I hope….that I was...worthy." Tony started to freak out, grabbing the body around the unbeating heart and flying off to SHIELD.

When Thor woke up in medical after a 3 week coma, the team nearly screamed. The first thing anyone said to him was "That was super honor full and interesting, but you'll have to save it for another day."

The next one for the last words was Clint. He had run out of arrows a while ago, but that would never stop him. As he fought alongside Natasha, all he could think about was the growing pain in his head. That's what he gets for being crashed into by a flying metal robot made of steel. The droids were almost gone though, but they wouldn't be soon enough. Clint wasn't going to make it, and he knew it. The blood was clouding his vision, but unfortunately, it wasn't on the outside. The internal bleeding would kill him soon enough. As the final robot fell, so did he. He vaguely hear Natasha calling his name, looking at his bashed skull, and crying. Clint smiled. He made the black widow cry. Maybe this wasn't the worst way to die. He guessed that the rest of the team arrived, because he heard their voices, telling him to hold on, but he couldn't. As he let his mind slip, he said "See you on the other side."

He woke up to Tony poking his face two days later, whispering "wakey wakey, Clinton, your girlfriends really mad at you and refuses to get me coffee unless I get you to wake up." Tony jumped up when Clint groaned. "Birdbrain?" He opened his eyes and tiredly pushed Tony's face out of his own.

"I was so good. I thought for sure I was going to heaven. Yet here I am."

Steve was next in his almost death experience. The fight was a rough one, not a single man, God, or science experiment was left unscathed. One, however, worse than others. Surprisingly, it wasn't Steve, though.

"Stark, will you please go sit down!?"

"Re-" cough "relax l, Cap. I'm fine. Don't get your spandex in a twist." He looked up in the sky to see Iron man swooping low to shoot an alien, then nose diving into the pavement.

"Tony!" He ran to where the suit had fallen. It was slowly beginning to get up, but an alien was coming in faster than he could recover. Steve got to him and began to pull him away, them both stumbling along, when all of a sudden the suit pulled him into a protective crouch, and Steve heard something explode. He felt it too. A piece of metal from the alien bomb plunged itself into his side while the rest bounced off the Iron Man armor that was trying to protect him. Tony let him go and lowered him to the ground.

"Cap, Cap, hey. Stay with me, buddy. Come on, Rogers." There was too much blood.

"Thank you." He muttered, then closed his eyes as his breathing slowed to a stop.

He woke up again on the helicarrier, a nurse gaping as he sat up in the white bed and looked around. Feeling content that the rest of the team was sleeping around him, he sighed, then jumped again as Stark muttered "You're welcome, Capsicle, but save your gratitude for next time."

Bruce had been so sure that they were all going to die. Captured and murdered by enemies. Somehow, they had found a way to temporarily stop the Hulk from emerging, and for the first time since the Gamma incident, Bruce was feeling deadly pain.

"Brucie, Brucie, look, we're all going to be fine okay? It's all going to work out. SHIELD is already on their way. They'll be here any minute."

"Tony, it's too late."

"Don't say that Brucie. You're not allowed to, you can't say that."

"Tony, there's no Hulk. I'm not a monster anymore."

"You never were, Bruce." His breath stuttered and he closed his eyes.

"Roar." He said weakly, then passed out on the cold floor of the holding cell as the entire team watched.

When he woke up again he was fully healed and in the Hulk containment cell, which meant 2 things. He wasn't dead, and he was able to become the Hulk again. Yay, dreams do come true. Tony barged in as soon as he showed signs of life.

"Brucie!"

"Hey tony. Guess I can turn green again?"

"Yeah, and don't you ever don't that to me again! I have heart problems you know!" He tapped the arc reactor. "Oh, and Bruce. I think your roar is way more scary than the Hulk's."

When Natasha muttered "ya ne khochu byt' strashno" in Russian, everyone froze. They searched around for the redhead, only to see her surrounded by other redness on the ground of the field they had been fighting the beasts on. Clint ran over and checked her vitals, cursed and began to fire off arrows non stop until all 60 bear like creatures were dead. It took him 40 seconds. 40 seconds of Natasha not breathing. Those 40 seconds took way too long in Clint's head. He began to try and wake her. Screamed at her, but her heart rate was slowing. The heli jet arrived as he started CPR and the medics took over.

Natasha woke up in the hospital later the next day, the recovery fast and the head injury healing. She looked around at the group of men all around her bed and smiled. A real smile, not a creepy or seductive or evil or forced one. A real one. The team later learned that the translation to what she said in Russian was "I don't want to be scary."

Tony was the last one to say his last words. It was in battle, just like everyone else. But isn't that how everyone goes? A battle, whether it be with an enemies, a friend, or yourself, your own body, you die in battle Tony didn't though. He just said his last words then. It was a sacrifice play, but with Tony Stark, when wasn't it? They were so close to winning. So close. Tony knew the last step they had to take to win. He knew it had to be his step. He told Jarvis to put all the power into the arc reactor repulsor, knowing well that the energy required to knock to remaining Hydra plane out of the sky would drain his suit, and the thing that was keeping him alive. He steadied himself on a nearby roof, ready for the end. He ignored the yells through his comms, ignore Clint screaming at him from another rooftop after he muted the comms. He closed his eyes.

"Good night." He fired. The pain was instant. Not only did the reactor no longer work, the power and push of the shot pushed the shrapnel in even faster. He sunk into unconsciousness after watching the plane blow up, like a final firework display. It was weird knowing you were the one who lit the explosion that filled the sky. He fell backwards and onto the solid roof of the building. Soon the team was all there. Hulk tried to roar and make him wake up, but nothing happened. Steve thought that it was the scariest thing he had ever seen. He had faced an entire army, his best friend tried to kill him, mutant creatures, even death itself, but the arc reactor not glowing topped it all off. They brought him to the medics, but they all knew it was too late. Like Tony had said, he died peacefully in his sleep. The silence from the usually chattering man was enough to make them all break into tears. As they stood at the side of the body on the way back to SHIELD they began to break down, the reality finally hitting them. Tony Stark- Iron man, billionaire, genius, playboy, _Avenger_ , was dead.

"Thanks you." Steve muttered.

"See you on the other side." Followed Clint.

"Roar." Bruce said quietly through tears.

"ya ne khochu byt' strashno." Natasha gasped.

"You were worthy, my friend." Thor contemplated. They all said their last words because inside, they were all just as dead as the man on the bed. Steve pulled the blanket over Tony's eyes.

"Good night, Tony."


End file.
